9. Can vaccines hurt my child?
- You understandably don’t want your child to be hurt. Vaccines actually spare your child the pain and danger of suffering from many serious childhood diseases. However, vaccines can cause a little discomfort or fever, which go away within a day or two.
10. How common and serious are side effects that immunising my child might cause?
- Some pain when the needle goes in is normal and doesn’t last long.
- Some children get a slight fever or maybe redness or swelling at the injection site, but that is normal. Those reactions go away by themselves. Giving a lukewarm bath or paracetamol to lower the fever also can help. Paracetamol should only be given in the case of a high fever following immunization and only the minimum dose appropriate for your child’s size should be given.
- The BCG vaccine will leave a small sore that heals quickly.
- Discomfort, tenderness or soreness at the injection site is minor compared to the serious diseases that taking these vaccines can prevent.
11. Why do some children have a fever and poor appetite after immunisation, and what should parents do?
- A child who has a fever or feels sore may be irritable and not eat as well as normally.
- Feed patiently and give breast milk or favorite foods.
- If the fever does not go away within three days, take the child to a health worker. The fever might be due to some other problem, not due to the immunisation.